[Chapter Size: 2803 Words.]
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EDDARD STARK POV
Northern Kingdom, Last resistance of Essos slavers, 290 AC, a few days after the meeting in King's Landing
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Ned had a headache. In front of him were nearly all the major lords of the realm. Lord Jon Umber was one of the last nobles to the north, and Lord Rickard Karstark from the east of the North. They had been for many weeks in the siege to invade this small fortress mounted by the mercenaries themselves in an open field, with no one reporting for years. They didn't bother with a direct attack since Ned didn't want to sacrifice northern soldiers, and there were still hostage prisoners inside the place. While reinforcements finally arrived, Ned couldn't wait any longer. However, an unfortunate situation occurred: news arrived that a convoy with Lord Glover's youngest daughter was attacked a few days ago by wildlings passing the Wall. As a soldier came bringing the news from the territory a few days ago, as ravens could hardly find a military camp.
This shook the plans that the Lord of Winterfell was making for the siege, as it left one of his major supporters nervous about the idea of his daughter being taken north of the Wall by damn wildlings.
"Lord Stark, I'm leaving tomorrow. I need to kill those sons of bitches. Sorry for not being able to participate more in the siege, but I intend to rescue my daughter before they can cross the Wall!" He said firmly, not willing to negotiate about it, and Lord Stark sighed.
"And I apologize for not accompanying you in this. I understand you as a father too. I can't imagine losing one of my daughters. Lord Glover, you are free to leave." Ned finally said.
"Thank you, Ned!" He said and turned to leave.
Throughout the rest of the day, they were organizing the camp, while the Glover soldiers prepared to leave the next morning.
"Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until I receive new support since I can't risk the hostages and my men with the current ones." Ned sighed.
It was night, and he and many lords who accompanied him were present, even Lord Glover, who attended to have the last meal with his lord. Lord Stark was eating his stew with hunted deer and vegetables when he went to drink his cup and saw his glass with water. Since they were in the middle of a siege, it would be troublesome to drink. He noticed that the water's surface had a slight impact.
This caught his attention, putting aside the conversations between his vassals, and focused on the cup and the strange phenomenon. It didn't take long for the cup to have another impact. It was subtle, but something was there. Another, and then another impact on the water's surface.
"Ned?!" Lord Karstark called him aside.
"Hm?! Sorry, did you say something, my lord?" He said a bit lost.
"What's this nonsense of my lord, Ned. Call me by the name, and you were looking so focused on that cup like a midwife for a child coming out of its mother!" He made a joke, making many lords laugh.
"Sorry, it seems like it's already a tremor or something. I'm starting to think we're about to have an earthquake or something..." Ned said, with a bit of concern.
"Earthquake? I highly doubt... Hm?!" Lord Karstark was interrupted by a sudden entrance with two soldiers.
Ned stopped paying attention to the cup and looked at the men nervously, wondering what was happening.
"My lords..." He bowed quickly and tried to compose himself, but he was still hesitant.
"SPEAK, SOLDIER! YOU SEEM TO HAVE SEEN A GHOST!" Lord Glover shouted, losing his patience.
"My lord..." The Northerner still hesitated.
"Giants! There are giants approaching!" The other soldier answered for his friend.
"Hm?! What kind of fantasy is this, men!" Lord Karstark said, raising an eyebrow.
"It's true, they are approaching the camp, the men are in chaos!" Said the first man, clearly nervous.
Lord Stark quickly stood up from the main chair and left the table, thinking it was too coincidental, these men shouting about giants when he knew giants in the north could only be related to a child.
"Show me the place they are coming from!" He ordered.
"Yes, Lord Stark!" They said in unison.
Ned followed the two soldiers out with all the lords, wanting to know immediately what was happening and what these giants scaring the soldiers were.
When they finally came out, they saw the soldiers running back and forth, shouting in fear, feeling the real chaos that they began to feel gradually as they left the main tent.
Jory quickly came to Lord Stark and bowed.
"Lord Stark, my lords! There is a group coming from the West to the camp, there are 4-meter men among them!" He still seemed hesitant about this, but quickly reported to Ned.
"What do you mean, lad? Men of 4 meters don't exist!" A lord spoke firmly.
"My lords, he is not lying, there are monsters coming to the camp, monsters 4 meters tall!" Another soldier arrived affirming the same thing Jory said.
The lords were finally getting agitated now, how could they not? They might not see these monsters, but the once organized camp was a mess at the moment.
Everyone looked at the lords, waiting for their orders.
"Let's see this group first, but be prepared to attack any hostile movement!" Lord Stark thundered, even knowing it might be his missing son, the only one he knew was with giants by the latest letters, he still had to be prepared, in case these monsters, as his men described them, were hostile.
Passing through various soldiers, they headed for the western part of the camp, where there was a crowd of nervous men holding weapons.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY! WE'RE PASSING THROUGH!" Lord Glover shouted impatiently, while the crowd made space for the lords to pass.
When they reached the front of these nervous men's rows, Ned Stark heard things like.
"By the Gods!"
"Are you seeing the same thing I am?"
"Hey, do we have to face these things?"
"Why did they come here!?"
"Are our gods dissatisfied and going to punish us!"
"I want to leave!"
"Shut up, we're Northmen, even these monsters can't fight against the entire camp."
"It's Lord Stark!"
"Lord Stark! Please protect us!"
While Ned ignored the noise of the soldiers, he hurriedly saw the sight that caused all the chaos in the camp.
From a distance, a group was approaching. Ned now understood why everyone was scared.
Seeing giant beasts, giants walking among men and some carts was not a common sight in the North. Even at night, he could see the powerful group and its individuals with the torches they carried, especially the one with the armored giant leading the other pairs.
In addition to the strange group, among the men, there were some mounted men, mainly someone with his sigil, which was a scout who joined this group, and a Glover soldier was with them, but the others carried a sigil that the Lord of Winterfell was not familiar with. A flag was raised, drawn with a white wolf and red eyes, inside a black circle, not only on the flag carried by the giant but also on the armor of these 4-meter beings and on the small armors of 3 individuals, one of them being a small child in armor that fit his little body and rode a fearsome black wolf as black as the night, 2.5 meters tall!
The group stopped 200 meters from the camp and the rows of Northern men along with their lords.
The boy atop the wolf advanced with his monstrous mount, showing that it was this strange child leading the group. He took a few steps and stopped between the camp and his group, a silence and, at the same time, a tense atmosphere covered the entire place.
The boy, sensing the atmosphere, took a deep breath and shouted to the men in front of him.
"MY NAME IS JON SNOW, SON OF THE LORD OF THE NORTH, LORD EDDARD STARK, AND I DEMAND THAT YOU TAKE ME TO HIM!!" Jon thundered, even with a childish voice. His sound resonated through all the hundreds of soldiers present with some vocal magic. He didn't have a commanding voice like Ducken, but it was loud enough to convey his intentions here. He wanted to speak with his father, so he walked away from his group, hoping someone would authorize him to enter the camp or that his father, Lord Stark himself, would come out to greet him. Jon knew these men were nervous. His group was composed of giants in armor, and even at this distance, they could see how they had 3-meter swords on their backs, with giant bows and arrows that could be compared to more than half a man, holding spears and shields in each hand as they marched with them in a firm and organized manner. In addition to the 4-meter men, the sight of giant wolves, shadow cats, and bears that seemed quite obedient around them didn't help either.
Jon patiently saw that someone quickly mounted a horse as soon as they brought it to that man, and rode in his direction with the whole camp witnessing. More horses were brought as this man approached, and more men mounted and went in his direction. The first man seemed quite eager to meet him, and Jon didn't need to look through his owls to know who he was, breaking into a rather happy smile as he approached the boy.
"JON!" Ned didn't waste time. As he approached, he looked cautiously at that wolf that made Jon even larger than him mounted on his horse, and he dismounted from his saddle. The boy did the same differently; the wolf simply crouched on the ground for his master to land more gently, and the boy walked out of the wolf to meet his lord father. Initially, he wanted to show respect to his father, as he was in front of so many eyes, and it could be disrespectful, but Lord Stark simply dismounted from his horse. So Jon forgot the initial formality and joined his father on the ground. When he would have an attitude as noble etiquette requires for his lord, he was taken by surprise when Lord Stark stepped forward and embraced him in front of everyone.
Even with the sounds of more horses arriving to meet other lords, Ned could wait no longer and jumped onto his proud nephew-son and hugged him right there.
"Jon, finally, after 8 moons! I am seeing my boy again!" Jon felt touched by these words and returned the hug with tears in his eyes. He might have some resentment towards his father in Winterfell, but he could not deny that he loves him and misses him greatly. His father always showed love when he could to him, the boy.
"Look at you, Jon, already with your 9 namedays. By the gods, you're turning into a man, and the North only talks about you these days." He said with his rough voice but proudly.
"Thank you, father." Jon said timidly as any child would after a compliment in front of all these people watching the interaction attentively. The other lords had already stopped at a distance from the pair but refused to approach due to Shadow's threatening presence.
Jon stepped out of his father's embrace and looked at him. The boy needed to show why he was here with his group, as he caused a commotion just upon arrival. He moved away from his father and said in a loud voice.
"Lord Stark, I am here to assist your siege with my forces!" Jon declared.
"UHHH!!!!!" Seven armored giants raised their spears and hammers, banging against their shields and shouted.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
The repetition of the movement caused a deafening noise that reached the slave traders' stronghold on the other side of the Northern military camp. All the soldiers were intimidated and, at the same time, amazed at the postures of the giants, creatures they never expected to see in their lives.
What surprised everyone the most was that the boy seemed to command the giants, even though they were trained to follow Ducken's formations. The inhabitants on the other side of the wall did this only because Jon asked it to be so, even though it seemed surreal for a boy to be in command of a force of this level. Still, no one could deny what their eyes saw in front of them.
While the lords seemed open-mouthed and even a bit cautious, Ned looked at his boy with a hint of pride and admiration. He knew the boy had been doing unbelievable things, according to all reports and his own letters, so he wasn't so surprised. But he was still immensely proud of how Lya's son became extraordinary with each piece of news. His appearance was growing, and Ned paid close attention to the most notable change in the child: those emerald halos in his eyes, like proof of the gods' blessings. Even though he already knew this, it was incredibly striking to see it in person, giving Jon a magical aspect. His eyes were completely different from 8 moons ago when the boy had a look worthy of leading this group, which, in Ned's opinion, was a force that could compare to hundreds of men, especially with those giants in giant greenish-colored armor like his son's, as beautiful or even more so with that ruby armor worn by Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident, displaying the symbol, which seemed to be Jon's personal sigil.
'I just don't understand why a white wolf when his mount is a black wolf...' Ned debated but quickly forgot that thought.
"You have a long story to tell me, son," he said with a small smile.
"Yes, Lord Stark, are you interested in accepting my force to help you in the siege?" Jon smiled. He didn't lose his etiquette, even separated from his father for almost a year; he still had to respect him in front of his men.
"You'll be welcome," he said.
"Well, but first. Jart, come here, we need to notify Lord Glover about the latest news." Jon said. There was a man among the group of lords on horseback a few meters away displaying the sigil he saw on the soldiers from Deepwood. A soldier next to the giants started moving away from the group, approaching Jon and the northern nobles. He was one of the men with the 50 Glover soldiers, as there was no raven, a messenger had to be sent in its place. Jart was the chosen one and traveled with Jon. Even quite cautious at first, he began to get comfortable over the next few days traveling alongside that entire group that massacred almost 200 wildlings alone.
"Lord Glover! My lords!" He said and spoke directly to his lord, who still didn't understand why one of his guards from Deepwood was here.
"My lord, the captain sent me as a messenger. We found Jon Snow and his group while trying to track the wildlings and ended up following them to the north as soon as we found out that his group was following the wildlings and his daughter was kidnapped!" He said, earning a worried look from his lord, and continued.
"After a few days, Jon and his group, who were advancing at night, found the camp and destroyed all the wildlings, with his daughter being saved in the process, killing more than 150 soldiers!" Even though Jon rolled his eyes at the emphasis on the last part, he still found it strange to hear people talking about things he did with a certain tone of being a hero or doing something amazing, even if he couldn't deny the last part.
Lord Stark, like all the lords present, raised an eyebrow to this, especially the father of the rescued child himself.
"Here, I have a letter from the captain for more details." Jart approached and handed the letter to his still incredulous lord. He opened it silently and began to read, to finally look directly at Jon with a furrowed brow. He was happy with the information, but everything written there didn't seem to be real...
'This 9-nameday boy really entered a wildling camp and fought against them, saving his youngest daughter and resolving this wildling invasion before coming here?'
"Really, boy? Is everything in this letter true, and my men aren't lying?" He said in a tone of disbelief.
He would leave for home the next day, hoping it wouldn't be too late for his little Ester, but it seems the gods favored him this time, with Ned's boy solving the problem in his land.
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